Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee in Rhode Island voted in favor of S38, the bill that would extend the freedom to marry to same-sex couples in Rhode Island. By a vote of 7-4, the committee members advanced the marriage bill to the full Senate floor and voted against a discriminatory referendum bill that sought to send the freedom to marry to the ballot.

Today, the French National Assembly finalized the passage of the freedom to marry! By a final vote of 331-225, the French General Assembly passed legislation to extend the freedom to marry and the ability to adopt to same-sex couples.

Today, on the day that the Senate Judiciary Committee in Rhode Island will vote on legislation that would extend the freedom to marry to same-sex couples, all of the members of the Senate Republican Caucus in Rhode Island announced their support for the marriage bill. The caucus is now the first legislative caucus of any political party in any state to unanimously support the freedom to marry.

As Doug Behl and Terry Goldman prepared to get married, they thought about the life they had built together, the ways that marriage would strengthen their commitment, and how this legal bond would protect their future family.

This week, legislation to extend the freedom to marry to same-sex couples in Rhode Island and Delaware - and the first step toward winning marriage in Nevada - faces critical votes. Read about each of the movements in the states here.

This week, marriage moved forward in Brazil when the Corregedor Geral de Justiça of Rio de Janeiro authorized marriages between same-sex couples. Rio de Janeiro is now the tenth state to pass the freedom to marry in Brazil.

This afternoon, the House Administration Committee in Delaware voted 4-1 in favor of ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. The vote moves the marriage bill to a vote before the full Delaware House of Representatives. A vote in the House is expected soon.